Community Question: Reverb Pedal Summary / Recap

It’s been a long time, but I use to ask “community questions” on a regular basis, and I want to bring these back. I really like the community interaction, and I always learn something new from these questions.. and you might too. Yesterday, I was thinking about my pedals, and was focusing on my reverb pedals. I was thinking back to the days when I didn’t have a reverb pedals, and was wondering when and why that changed on my board.

Yesterday, I posted this on Facebook”

“So, it’s clear that reverb pedals are incredibly popular now-a-days. So many boutique builders are getting into the game of reverbs. The big dogs have been building reverbs for years, but these days, reverbs are insanely hot.

I remember just a few years ago, that reverb was almost a ‘bad word’ in some guitar circles. No one would use reverb, especially live, unless you were in a rockabilly or surf band. I was one of those guys that thought I would NEVER have a reverb pedal on my pedalboard. Now I have 2, and thinking about number 3.

My community question to you is:What band, song, moment got you to start thinking about owning a reverb pedal?”

We got some great answers below. I had a few people ask me directly my answer. For me personally, I into bands like Shellac, Fu Manchu, etc a few years ago, and those styles of bands do not have reverb, and that in turn is why I never had it on my board. I remember introducing a delay pedal (Line 6 DL4) originally for lead stuff, but there was a time I was in between bands and was exploring new sounds. Foals was the first band that I was really looking at reverb as an effect vs. smoothing out your tone. After interviewing Yannis, I quickly picked up a Boss RV-5 like what he had on his board at the time. Later, I saw he had a Strymon BlueSky, and then I eventually replaced the Boss with that. And.. down the rabbit hole I went.

From Facebook

Jimmy KnowlesAnti anything is a pretty closed minded approach. I play bass and I use a reverb for a touch of ambience in specific parts. Reverb on bass is a no no as well right? haha Anyhow, to answer your question, I had been chasing a pretty/ambient/big clean tone for select parts for years and have used everything from Chorus to Flangers and Phasers to Acoustic Sims, but never a reverb because it was taboo. I had a moment about 6 months ago and said screw it and tried some verb on bass. It is the choice I should have made from the beginning. Luscious gobs of bass yum.

Andrew ShoreThe whole anti reverb thing I thought was fucking stupid Bandwagoneiring from some craps guitar player magazine that got too much momentum/ Honestly listening to Sunn O))) and wanting to get that sort of sustain and ambient texture got me into reverb as a tool It Was trying to play some Earth tunes that lead me to actually buying a reverb

Ivan Lopez Garridowell, I’ve been playing a vintage Twin Reverb for years without using the reverb – ’cause reverb was a no no, right? First time I found the footswitch was after I heard Black Heart Processions 2nd album back in ’99 or 2000. Then I lost in a shelf. Now the footswitch is back on the board, and I would never consider using a stomp box while using my trusty Twin Reverb.

Max VanI was never against having a reverb pedal. However, I actively wanted a pedal, as opposed to on amp reverb as of hearing Ride in the late 1980’s.

Jon YorkI play in many bands- in my indie rock band I use reverb sparingly, in my post rock side project I use A LOT! There are now more reverb pedals than I can shake a stick at. I use the surf rider though- love it! I would love a pedal that does more, but I’m a bit overwhelmed by the choices..maybe the TC T2…

Darin SullivanJust the fact that I like to have some space in my tone made reverb necessary for me. I use reverb of some sort on almost everything I play.

Gregg WoodStill satisfied with reverb from amp; but, always looking for new pedals. Thanks for posing the question.

Martin SmithI’ve always liked reverb and always have it on; just varying the amount when need to.

Robert AbernathyHonestly, playing around with GarageBand plug-ins – the Track Reverb Deep Space filled a hole in my soul

Travis BroughtonBand – the steady as she goes. Soaked in reverb and delay goodness, not to mention, very downtrodden gothic lyrics.

Sebastian Przybylskii as well avoided reverb like the plague for at least 25 years. then i got the orange cr120 head and i accidentally overlooked turning down the reverb as usual and absolutely fell in love. its got a hall spring and reverb switch and outside of the reverb being digital its an all analog solid state head. since then ive fallen in love with the fuzzrocious afterlife. thats really the only one im interested in actually.

Eli SlateI felt exactly the same way until I heard Explosions in the Sky. I bought a Electro Harmonix Holy Grail because I thought it did a good job of producing that sound, but I recently sold it and bought a Digitech Supernatural Ambient Verb because it has a lot more reverb sounds to play around with.

Daniel MendozaSince childhood , i would listen to depeche mode realizing that those were not normal drums. Later in life i realized reverb was everywhere and abusing it can be fun. Pacer from the amps, and amber from 311 are good examples. My favorite reverbs are t rex tone bug , ( basic) and the topanga ( brutal.)

Ken SternNever felt – or was influenced – by any taboo or whatever with reverb. Just a tool – one of many – for electric players. Personally, there’s some great, early, killer, very clean guitar parts with reverb by Mike Bloomfield (like “Stop” on Super Session for example) and Jimmy Page among others that influenced me. Tasteful is the key where it enhances, not dominates, the guitar/bass passage. That said, I like it when you can actually “hear” the spring. I’m personally a Delay guy. I use my delay pedals to simulate reverb when needed.

Alan SeegerI prefer a delay pedal to reverb, although I do sometimes use a touch of ‘verb if the amp has it built in.

luc_wilkinson Foals use of reverb on their second album ‘Total Life Forever’ got me loving reverb before I even started started played guitar a few years back. Reverb is my absolute favourite effect, I use a Mr. Black Supermoon & Deluxe Plus. But I would love a Walrus Audio ‘Decent’ or an Old Blood Noise Endeavours ‘Procession’ too.

If you want to participate.. not a problem, please comment below with your answers. Love to hear what you say. Also, be sure to follow EffectsBay on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

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I don’t have a dedicated reverb pedal yet but plan on getting one after listening to TC Electronics HOF and other demos. I have been using two delay pedals for the past two years (one has programmable reverb type capabilities.) No particular artist sparked my interest, I just like to experiment with as many effects I can get my hands on.
SS

I’ve always loved reverb. It’s been a required feature in almost all the amps I’ve owned. It started when I was a young teen. I remember listening to The Needle and the Spoon by Lynyrd Skynyrd. When the lyrics end and the out to solo begins, the guitar is soaked in reverb which is then pulled back a few bars later. I thought that sounded really cool and when I learned to play guitar a few years later, I always played with some reverb dialed in. As I got more money and the tech improved, I remember buying a Digitech RP-7 in the early 90’s and found I could use a CV controller pedal to vary some of the effects in real time. The fist thing I did was figure out how to dial the reverb up and down in the fly. I was playing in a cover band at the time and we did several Skynyrd songs, including The Needle and the Spoon. At a gig one night, I had the CV pedal and RP-7 set and when I played the outro solo, I added that reverb to what I was playing. I didn’t tell my bandmates and they were pretty surprised. “Man, that sounded just like the record.” I’ve been using different verb FX on my own songs since to add different textures and feels. Good ‘verb is as indesoensible to me as killer OD pedal. I’ve got an EHX and Boss unit on my board now and an old Lexicon rack unit in my project studio. There’s so many choices now, I’m not sure what to buy next.

I was always turned off by the spring reverb in most amps, it just never sounded natural and seemed separate from the music. I started liking reverb after trying some pedals and mostly use plate or maybe hall. The Jónsi (Sigur Rós) – TonePrint for the TC HOF also really good for crazy ambient stuff.

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